In the scheme of things, particularly the prevailing social hierarchy,
I am not doing that bad, but it gets embarrassingly depressing at times.
Imagine, you are almost always in the political and social circles of
individuals whose worth or lack thereof you are fully aware of and at
times appreciate. You can afford to hang out at the same gigs, eat in
the same restaurants/cookshop, attend governmental functions of the
high level variety, get invited to the same parties, and maybe even
keep the company of the same ladies. At times, many times in fact, one
is obliged to engage in conversations and yet you can not help but say
something that you believe in and stand for and all of a sudden you
feel like, you don’t belong. That is the queasiness associated
with a close proximity to power. It is not a syndrome because it can
be healed. Just speak your mind and stand up for what you believe.

This brings me to a number of rather disturbing events that has the
potential for undermining the body polity and distracting the public
from the over riding need for peace, tranquillity and justice. The bad
mouthing of the United Nations Mission in Liberia is a case in point.
In a number of incidents this process took several dimensions.

In one, a senior government official stated in the presence of a high
ranking UN official about how corrupt the UN system is and that if the
UN does not do things differently, elements of the warring factions
are able to make them run scare within “four days” and they
will be “packing their bags” and “boarding planes.”
Without pointing out the actual corruption in the UN system and the
effect that this was having on the peace process, the government official
proceeded to suggest that a fundamental requirement in the disarmament
process should be the securing of commercial and profitable enterprises
for disarmed fighters. According to the government official, armed factions
are currently engaged in commercial activities and they would not countenance
an interruption of these activities unless some other forms of compensatory
devices are put into place for them to, essentially, continue their
self-enrichment.

But what exactly are the commercial activities that elements of the
armed factions are engaged in. For starters, Monrovia newspapers report
on a daily basis of the shaking down of Liberians including exaction
of toll fees from an already impoverished population who are desirous
of returning to their home towns or are trying to get their commodities
to market. There are also the armed robberies taking place in many parts
of the country, where UNMIL has yet to deployed and even in places where
they are deployed, including Tubmanburg, Buchanan and Gbarnga. Alongside
these, are the burglaries and robberies that elements of the armed factions
are known to be perpetrating. It is these sorts of “commercial”
transactions that need to be catered to in order to please those who
continue to visit mayhem, plunder and murder against our people. The
fact that these individuals and their organizations are behaving criminally
and should be held accountable for their crimes is not something our
government official in question cares about. What a pitiable state of
affairs.

The second area of concern involves the Minister of Commerce, Mr. Sam
Wlue. Mr. Wlue has accused UNMIL of abusing its duty free privileges
and that goods brought into the country under the duty free regime are
sold to the public and this is wrong. One would have thought that in
Mr. Wlue’s accusation, he would have produced evidence including
some of the goods and those arrested who were selling prohibitive goods.
He did not. The most the Minister suggested as evidence during his press
briefing was that some UNMIL soldiers were selling their “rations”
at exorbitant prices. He did not say exactly what these prices were
and how they compare with the regular price structure of the country.
Needless to say that the much talked about price reductions government
declared upon coming to office have not happened and that several merchants
continue to sell their goods including petrol at higher prices than
those declared by government. For example, one gallon of gas is being
sold at LD$130 and a one way trip from Pynesville to Monrovia, may at
times be as much as LD$25 compared to LD$15 in an earlier period. The
Minister is miffed on these questions.

No doubt abuses may be occurring in the duty free privileges but rigorous
investigation need to happen and culprits caught before a government
official, worth his salt, can make public declaration on these matters.
Perhaps, once the Minister got wind of the probable violation of the
laws, he would have contacted the relevant security agencies including
the Liberia National Police or the Criminal Investigation Division to
conduct investigations and establish illegality or crimes. The fact
that these simple processes were not employed suggest that the Minister
is posturing or in the least bad mouthing UNMIL.

Another dimension was added recently when a leader of the former ruling
party, the National Patriotic Party (NPP), accused UNMIL of misplaced
priorities. According to Mr. Cyril Allen, UNMIL Chief of Mission, Jacque
Klein has purchased himself a car (An Audi) worth “$100,000”.
According to him, the money came from funds allocated for the DDRRP
thus the continuous postponement of the disarmament process. UNMIL said
that Mr. Allen’s accusations were untrue and unfounded. Without
any attempt to shoot the messenger in this case, it is certainly disingenuous
on the part of Mr. Allen to level such accusations given the fact that
his party is perhaps largely responsible for the current situation in
the country. One must quickly add as well that UNMIL officials need
to be acutely sensitive to the general impoverishment of the country.
It is difficult to inspire confidence among people when their priorities
including the disarmament process continue to hang in abeyance while
those entrusted with such responsibilities are perceived to be living
“high off the horses.”

The politics of our times demand that our leaders conduct themselves
with probity and assiduousness Whatever the shortcomings of UNMIL, Liberians
should first of all demonstrate a responsible, principle and honest
leadership in order to enhance the prospects for durable peace. Areas
of disagreement, including the alleged abuse of duty free privileges,
the alleged unavailability of the more than 80 UN police vehicles to
members of the Liberian National Police Force, UNMIL employment policies
and practices, as well as the perceived misplacement of priorities are
issues that can and should be discussed in earnest and mutual solutions
arrived at. UNMIL presence in Liberia is important at least until all
the weapons in the possession of the warring factions are taken away
and destroyed. We can not afford to undermine their presence, we should
seek to enhance the real chance, we have had in a while, to secure a
durable peace with justice. Political posturing must stop.